In military and law enforcement situations, marksmen and their firearms are expected to provide accurate and precise targeting at both short and long ranges. However, movements of the desired target and/or movements by the marksman may cause imprecise targeting and consequent missing of the target when the firearm is discharged.
Prior efforts to solve these problems all have their shortcomings. For example, some systems use gyroscopic technologies to combat these problems. In such systems, a gyroscope is implanted into the body or stock of a firearm. The marksman aims at the intended target, and locks the system onto the target by indicating to the system in some manner that the intended target is in the sight of the firearm. After that indication and locking onto the target, the gyroscope senses any movement in the firearm, either up and down, side to side, or a combination thereof, and through some mechanism corrects for that movement. There are at least two drawbacks to such gyroscopic systems however. First, they only correct movements of the firearm, and cannot adjust and correct for movements of the intended target. Second, since such systems are installed inside the stock or elsewhere in the firearm, they are not easy to either install or retrofit, and in most cases require at least some disassembly of the firearm.
The art is therefore in need of a precision targeting system for firearms that is effective, that is easy to install and retrofit without dismantling the firearm, and that will make corrections both for target movement and firearm movement.